Nostalgic
by Amethyst Turtle
Summary: After encountering an old friend from Hive Academy, Jinx ponders over her choices. Takes place a while after ep. 65. One-shot.


AN: This is my first Teen Titans fanfic, so forgive me if the characters are OOC.  
Reviews, anyone?

Nostalgic

A flap of wings and a strong gust of wind was all it took to break a thick window of glass. As broken shards scattered across the ground, a winged girl hovered safely over the debris into the shop. Noticing the activated alarm, her ivory feathered wings suddenly grew in size and slammed against a ringing alarm immediately stilling the vibrating disc on the wall. The girl continued strolling along the jewelry store at a leisurely pace, passing stunned shoppers and employees. Along the way, she gathered a stray necklace or a pair of earrings off of the ground, hanging them over her arm. She glared at the nervous bystanders, all of them whom quickly fled the scene. Then a couple of rather chubby policeman leapt from behind a shelf and brandished shotguns at the girl.

"You there, stop!" one of the men yelled. He held a gun in his trembling hands, frightened by the girl's blank yellow eyes and the pair of wings protruding from her slim body. The girl chuckled and shook her head at the policemen.

"I really wouldn't do that," the girl motioned for them to put their guns down. "Not unless you want to get hurt. If you stay out of my way, perhaps I won't injure you."

Both law enforcers flinched at the word "perhaps" and slowly stepped aside to allow her pass. Their guns were reluctantly set onto the carpeted floor.

"Smart choice," the girl said brightly. Without warning, her wings enlarged and clapped together right on the unsuspecting policemen. "But I wouldn't want to attract any attention now, do I?"

The men collapsed, knocked unconscious by the force of the strike. Yawning, the girl continued on her way to the precious gems display. With another clap of her powerful wings, the glass shattered, exposing the shimmering jewels ripe for her picking. She began to pick out the largest of the precious stones, examining them carefully before setting them into a rucksack slung over her shoulder. The sack was half full of the gems when all of the sudden a swift flash of pink caused the girl to drop the bag and the jewels in her hand out of surprise. Another blaze of pink and she was blown away from the display and was knocked into the wall. She pulled herself out of the rubble and growled in annoyance. Then she gasped when she saw who her attacker was.

A thin, pink haired girl stood at the entrance of the store, her hands and eyes shimmering with crackling energy. Her eyes no longer held any trace of the once ever present malice and contempt, but it was easy enough for the winged girl to recognize her former best friend.

"Jinx?!?" the girl gasped.

"Angel!" Jinx cried out, the glow of her eyes and hands subsiding. She rushed to the slightly bruised teen. "Is that you?"

Jinx caught Angel's hurt look and stopped about ten feet away from her.

Angel picked herself off of the cracked floor, brushing bits of dust off of her shirt and skirt and adjusted her silver helmet. She looked at Jinx, who was now watching her warily, and saw the yellow communicator clipped on her belt.

"You're one of them now," she said bleakly. "I remember. Gizmo and Billy told me after they thawed me out."

"Angel…" Jinx hesitantly took another step forward. "I don't want to fight you."

The winged teen tilted her head slightly. "No. I suppose not. You never hurt me. But aren't you going to turn me in or something?"

"I don't think I want to." Jinx's pink cat-like eyes bore straight into Angel's vacant yellow ones. "What I want to know is how you got out of Paris. I thought we left you all frozen there."

Angel laughed. "XL Terrestrial got us out. He wasn't caught, so he just waited around 'til the coast was clear. Then he unfroze a few of his friends, including me, and we all went our separate ways. And here I am, stealing jewelry in Race City."

Jinx's lips twitched. "I guess I should thankful those other guys weren't freed. We don't have much time, though. Kid Flash is going to be here any minute from a mission in the East."

"So that means you'll let me go?" Angel asked hopefully.

"Yeah," Jinx answered without hesitation.

_Angel had been her best friend in the Academy. And it wasn't just because she was one of the few female students at the largely male-inhabited school. Angel understood right from wrong, but that didn't make her wonder why her winged friend chose to be a villain. It was purely choice. Just as it had been her choice to take up a life of crime. _

"I don't suppose you'd want to join up with us," Jinx said despondently. Angel shook her head, as she had expected. Then she whispered, "I really missed you, Angel. I really did."

"And I missed you."

Angel unexpectedly pulled the sorceress into an embrace, her soft feathers gently brushing against her. Jinx found herself returning the hug seconds before she slowly pulled away.

"Well, I'll be going now." Angel called over her shoulder as she walked away. "And Jinx?"

"Yeah?"

"You were never a traitor." Angel flashed one last smile at her friend, and flew off into the sky. Jinx ran out, catching one last glimpse of her massive wings already far in the distance. With a sad sigh, she turned back to the wrecked storefront. To her surprise, the villainess had left the bag of stolen jewels and jewelry by the gems display where she had dropped it.

"Jinx!"

She turned around to face the familiar masked face of Kid Flash, looking at her expectantly. His usually cheerful face fell when he saw the wreck in front of the store, the unconscious policemen, and the sad look on his friend's face.

"Did she get away?"

"Yeah," Jinx answered sorrowfully. "Yeah, she did."

-----

After cleaning up the store and coaxing the terrified staff out of the storerooms, Kid Flash scooped up Jinx and raced back to their Tower in a few seconds. When they reached their copper and gold tower, the two entered the chrome-themed common room where the other Titans North members awaited. Jericho, Kilowatt, and Argent watched them approach in silence from the leather couch, the news of Angel's easy escape already in their knowledge. Jinx instinctively flinched at their blank stares.

_In the Academy, failure was not tolerated. This lesson was quickly branded into the resident students after Brother Blood took over. Even after leaving the school and joining the Hive Five, it was still stuck in Jinx's mind. Which was why she couldn't lose at anything, even though she had nothing to lose. She just couldn't. _

"It wasn't her fault," Kid Flash said straight away. "They just had a little talk, and she left without hurting anyone. Heck, nothing was even stolen this time!"

"That isn't the point." Argent said, a bit miffed at Kid Flash's nonchalant attitude toward the recent events. "One more criminal got away. Which means more fodder for the tabloids. AGAIN. Do I need to ring a bell about that time they said I was a-"

"Aw, come on, Arge," Kilowatt grinned. "No harm, no foul, I always say."

Argent scowled at the blue-skinned conductor and floated away.

"She'll get over it," Kilowatt laughed. He shot away to the halls in a burst of electricity, presumably to go find something to drain.

Jericho nodded to Jinx and Kid Flash and walked away. Despite his silent demeanor, the other four Titans agreed he was the most empathic. He knew what Jinx meant when she let Angel get away. After Jericho left the room, Jinx sighed and collapsed on the couch. Kid Flash sat down beside her.

Jinx turned to him. "Did I do the right thing?"

"I guess it depends how you look at it," he replied. "On one hand, you let a friend leave unharmed. On the other hand, a criminal is still somewhere on the loose." He smiled jokingly.

"Thanks for the advice," Jinx said sarcastically.

"No prob." Kid Flash flashed a lopsided grin at her, and rushed off to find Kilowatt to play video games.

Jinx sighed yet again, and began walking to Argent's room. Argent was a good listener, and she gave the best advice in all sorts of predicaments. But at the last second, Jinx veered off in the direction of Jericho's room. The energy manipulator reminded her of Angel too much.

"Jericho?" Jinx knocked gently on the body-switcher's door. The sound of a strumming guitar ceased, and the door slid open. Jericho looked slightly surprised at her presence, but stood aside to let her in. He already knew she needed someone to vent out on from the look of confusion and frustration on her face. Straight away, Jinx collapsed onto the white bed and stared up at the ceiling, which had stars and flowers painted on it. Jericho settled himself on a sagging armchair and set his guitar next to it.

"Did I do the right thing?"

Jericho looked at Jinx intently, and nodded.

"You sure?"

Jericho nodded again, this time a little more vigorously.

"Thanks Jericho." she mussed the mute's hair and left his room. Jericho blinked. He had been expecting a drawn out rant and a list of questions.

The sound of her boots echoed against the steel walls of the corridor, a rush of nostalgia coursing through her. If she closed her eyes, she could almost imagine that she was back in the Academy, walking to her next class or to the dorms.

_For a long time, the school was her home. After the headmistress had mysteriously vanished, Brother Blood told her she had potential in a life of villainy after watching her train. Potential. It was that one word that sparked her determination to be the best and show all those lousy cowards in the cities what she had become. _

Jinx passed by Argent's room, Kilowatt's storage room, and a couple of bathrooms before she stood in front of a steel door with her name engraved in it. Silently, she went in and opened her bureau. Reaching inside, she fingered an old, obsolete Hive communicator before flipping it open. The wireless transceiver had been cut, ensuring that it could not receive any transmissions from the other Hive communicators. The tracker had been disabled as well. Pressing a small, worn button, the device shuddered and hummed once or twice before blinking on. A list of Hive students came up on the dull screen. Jinx scrolled through the outdated photos of her former friends as children, before settling on a profile of a pale adolescent with pink hair and eyes. Jinx gazed at her younger counterpart, staring at the cold, livid eyes she had long outgrown. Then without a last look, she switched off the communicator and set it back in her bureau.

_Jinx did not know what she was. Her pale skin and pink hair attracted jeering and insults, and her destructive powers brought fear and anger. The lonely child soon learned to survive on hate and violence. _

_Which was why she decided out of logic that she must be a villain._

_After all, everyone hated villains. And everyone hated her. But then Hive Academy allowed her to fit in, to be something at least a little close to normal. There, she found others like her, who had been outcasts of society, freaks of nature. For a long time, they had been her friends. Then she found Wally, who showed her compassion and understanding, two things no one, not even her so-called friends, had ever expressed to the girl. _

_Which was why she decided that everyone, including herself, deserved a second chance at life. _

"Hey," Kid Flash stood at her door. She blinked, her memories pushed back by their sudden interruption. "We got another alert. Some guys trying to rob a sandwich shop. You coming?"

Jinx smiled and went to join her friends.

AN: Did you think it was okay? Review, please!


End file.
